State sales tax to cover larger PFD is a bad idea, distracts from real needs

The support from our governor and some legislators for levying a statewide sales tax on all Alaskans defies logic. Nor does it even make horse sense.

As the Legislature enters its final days, the governor says he supports a $2,700 Permanent Fund dividend. Some in the Senate propose a $1,300 dividend. If the $2,700 dividend were to be approved by the Legislature it would create an estimated $600 million budget deficit. That is about what the governor would need to raise from a sales tax to fund his higher dividend.

That tax would come from the pocket of every Alaskan on virtually every purchase...